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NOTICE
The time has come! Eight years ago the Prairie Winds Caches were published for "Best of the Bad" Mega, and 2 cache owner groups have been maintaining them. It is time to archive the series, but we would like more people to receive a Prairie Winds coin first.
NOTE: All the Prairie Winds caches will be archived as of the 8th of September, 2020.
The new requirement is: You must have logged, as found, at least 20 Prairie Winds caches to earn a Prairie Winds geocoin. Once you qualify (before September 8, 2020), contact cache owner at lthbridge@gmail.com to receive a coin.
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Manyberries is another small hamlet in southern Alberta. It is one of the communities along the CPR rail line from Stirling to Weyburn, Saskatchewan that was built in the late 1800’s. The original train station and section house have been converted to PRIVATE residences. PLEASE DO NOT TRESPASS! The cache is NOT located at the actual Manyberries Station. The cache is west of the village so if you look to the east from the cache site, you can see the station. There are other old buildings in the community as well.
There are very few areas of native prairie grass in southern Alberta any more. One of the most recognizable plants is the sagebrush because of its silver-grey bush with yellow flowers that can survive in the harsh weather conditions of arid and semi arid desert areas. Sagebrush has a strong, pungent fragrance that discourages grazing by wild animals. Take a single leaf, bend it in half and smell the leaf. There are several fruit bearing shrubs; Saskatoons, chokecherries and gooseberries that occur in the moist coulees in the area and perhaps that is the reason for the name of the community.
We are uncertain what this area was used for but there were buildings here at one time. When approaching the cache, please park on the road near the sign for “Manyberries Station” and walk to the cache. For your safety, we suggest that you walk around the cement pads as there is no way of knowing how stable the cement is and if there was once a hole, pit or basement under the cement.